I am drowning in a tangled, heavy, disorganized pile of stuff. You know, stuff. Mama stuff and work stuff and meetings that keep going long stuff and trying to say more than hello to my husband stuff and pregnancy stuff and taxes stuff and house cleaning stuff.... Just keeping on top of being hydrated seems like one more item to add to a to-do list that's turning into a very uninteresting dissertation. Life of a pregnant working mother circa 2009, as documented on a sticky pad, Outlook calendar, and scrap paper.
Balance? Ha. I'm so out of balance that the beat of a hummingbird's wings could send me sprawling. If I were to draw my life as a pie chart, distorted pieces would splinter off before I could even make a color-coded key. These days, finding a minute to breathe in and out feels like an accomplishment, especially now that I'm in the thick of the hormone-fueled pregnancy roller coaster. I feel like I'm whirling through the day, swinging past piles of papers and toys and stacks of emails and groceries, struggling to focus and not doing anything - not even reading the tongue-twisting story of the Lorax at bedtime - quite right. And those are the good days.
All this, and my second child has not yet entered the world. How will I ever handle things with two children, two hands, and one semi-functioning brain?
I need a drastic intervention that includes some (free) combination of Mary Poppins, a professional organizer, housecleaning, a nursery decorator, a weeklong retreat to a spa, a second honeymoon on an isolated beach, and many, many trips to the park with my son . I'm sure I'm not alone in this, just as I'm sure there are lots of mothers out there who need this far more desperately than I do. Is there some sort of a secret mothers' retreat out there designed to soothe the crazed, overloaded, in need of a mental/emotional chiropractor mama and then gently ease her back to the civilized world with a diaper bag full of handy dandy goodies?
Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. What is going to happen is a four day trip to meet my beautiful baby niece, Elsa, during which I'm not going to even look at a computer or check email. It'll be nothing but partaking of the joys of Memphis - where my brother's family lives - and maybe cracking open a book or two. It's not quite a retreat to Hawaii, but I'll very grateful that I get to take it. Assuming I find a spare minute to pack...
